Welcome To The Colony Reality Show!

Congratulations, you and your team have been passed the audition to be selected for the Colony 2018 Program.

It’s currently January, and you’re due to move to your island early April.

The goal of this program is a scientific experiment to understand more how to build self-sufficient communities, and we’re excited to have you onboard!

Your new home

Creagach Island is just west from the coast of Ireland – it’s about 90 minutes away by helicopter.

A small community was created here, but was abandoned after the Great Storm of 1987, after which island life lost its appeal.

We’ve annually held small University retreats there in summer, so we know the overall state of the place, but it’s a little what you might call “a fixer upper”.

Housing

There are 8 rustic huts around the main community. Most of these are in good condition, although all need some work, mainly fixing roof leaks and general maintenance. Hut 5 though suffered serious damage in the storm, and needs extensive rework. Huts only really contain a bedroom.

The community centre is more central, and contains kitchen facilities for the island, as well as toilet and shower facilities. It also houses the community radio station, which can be used to contact the mainland in emergencies.

The students have also fitted a couple of solar power banks, including batteries. But the power is only really available in the community centre.

There’s also a helipad clearing which we’ll use to take you there. It can also be used in emergencies.

Farming

After the Great Storm, the remaining sheep population were gathered up for sale. There are still a lot of wild goats loose though, and some rabbits as well.

We’d hoped that the tractor which was kept in storage would be usable. But last year’s survey said it need an overhaul, and we don’t think we can find parts for that vintage.

Previously the area around the community was farmed – a key crop was potatoes (not a huge surprise, it’s Ireland), but they grew a variety of other food.

On the subject of food – we’re going to provide you with rations and some tinned food for your first 4 months, after which you’re pretty much on your own.

Woodland

The island is still relatively wooded, and you tend to find a lot of goats have gone loose and feral here.

There’s a good variety of trees, which have been used previously as firewood (the huts all have woodburners), just remember you need to season any wood for a couple of months before burning.

Theodore Cove

About half a kilometre from the main community is Theodore Cove, which contains a pier, which like so much of the island is in need of repair. Anything heavy that you’ll need delivering will have to come through here.

According to the students, the fishing in the cove can be quite promising.

Workshop Activities

You have 3 months now until you’re going to be dropped on the island. You need to really prepare yourself for this in your groups.

We’re going to help you do this by working through the following activities with you. We will communally debrief after each stage.

Exercise 1 – Introduce yourself.

Who are you, what skills do you bring into the mix? Yes, do talk about yourself, you’re all going to live together for a year, so it’s important you know a bit more about each other.

Exercise 2 – Your first four months

Draw up a plan of activities you think you’ll need to undertake in your first few months. Try to work out what you think you can do yourself.

You might need to draw up a shopping list of anything you might need to support you (do remember though, our resources aren’t infinite). There’s a limit of 100,000 Euros. However because of the tax benefits this production has, this MUST be spent in the Republic of Ireland – so people will have to google costs & where to get from.

You also might want to think of any training that you might want to take between now and your first day. You can use any training course which runs in the UK or Ireland 2018 before your start date

Exercise 3 – Recruits!

We’re actually two people short for your group. Try and work out amongst you how you’d advertise for those two additional people. What are you looking for?

Exercise 4 – A sense of community

You’re going to have to all live and work together. How are you going to make it work?

Debrief

This might all seem like a little bit of fun … which is it, but it has a serious point.

As an agile team, you’re coming together as a group, as a community. You want to be as self-sufficient as possible. Amongst things, in your planning you will have groomed a bit of a backlog of things to do!

There are some skills you have, some skills you might need to grow. But notice, many of you won’t start by defining roles. Instead understanding what needs to be done, and if you have sufficient skillset in your group.

Maybe you worried about medical care? With a medical helicopter 90 minutes away, that’s something worth taking seriously. Do you need someone with medical skills, like a doctor? Or does everyone needs some health and safety training? Maybe a mixture of the two?

There’s no right or wrong way.

Likewise deciding rules for you as a group defines you as a community. It’s about making sure some things are valued, and people are protected. This is how countries evolve laws. But it’s important everyone is involved and feels the rules represent everyone than “meh, this rule?”.